Pie package



May 11, 1937. 4 G. s. Fos 2,080,125'

PIE PACKAGE Filed Deo. 16, 1932 Il l, 4

.fziii l t 'um xg Patented lMay II, 1937 n UNITED] STATE-s PATENT OFFICE PIE PACKAGE -George S. Frost, Baldwin, N. Y. Application December 16, 1932, Serial No. 641,5@

2 Claims.

In, my co-pending application, Serial No. 554,931, 'filed August 3, 1931, I showed and described a package for containing food products. The 'article disclosed in that application has proven commercially successful and it has all of theA advantages claimed in said application. It is desirable, however, from a commercial standpoint, to avoid having to use a plate having the enlarged iiangeon which a cause it necessitates the use of a special plate.

The object of the present invention is to provide a package or put-up for individual pies or other food products which will protect the food product from breakage even though roughly handled; which will entirely protect the :food product from being contaminated as the food product is entirely enclosed and sealed in a sanitary manner within my improved package;v which will permit the entire food product to be clearly seen from the exterior of the package so that purchasers may not only see what kind of food product is contained in each package, but will be able to judge also of the size, 'fullness and quality; and which will preserve vthe f ood prod uct -for longerfperiods` than if unprotected or than if protected by packages as heretofore used.

- The food product may be placed in the present package and 'the latter may be sealed without handling the food product. The only machinery necessary or desirable for closing the package is a wire stitching machine. y l

Another object is to provide a package having vthe vabove characteristics and which is partly formed of the ordinary pulp, cardboard or similar plate, provided with the common type of ange formed on plates of this character. In other words, in the present package it is not necessary to prolong the width of the flange and to form 'the circular bead as in my said co-pending application. lNeither is it necessary to form the circular bead on the ring which clamps the edge oi theV transparent top covering to the plate. Whereas the .bead is used in my said application to form a result is obtained inthe present article by the novel type of clamping ring and the manner in which it forms a bight in the transparent sheet.

Cooked -food products. such as piescakes and the like, are generally baked in metal pans or tins and after being baked they are slipped from y the metal plates `into the fibre or similar plate which is to accompany the 'product until it reaches the consumer. In the case of pies, for instance, the pies are slipped from the metal .bottom Wall of bead is formed, ,be-

bight or reverse bendin order that the transparent material will be rmly held, this 'and extending laterally from (Cl. 20E-44) plates into the iibre plates while they are still hot and it is desirable to provide means which will allow the escape of the steam and vapors from the pie while it is cooling. I accomplish this by providing'a series of raised members or 5 beads which may be disposed radially around the the plate to form a temporary support for the between the several raised members the bottom of the pie'will remain out of contact with the Aplate to form a space where the steam and vapor may pass out between the pie and plate while the `pie is'cooling. After the pie is cooled it may ultimately settle between the raised ribs, but this will not take place until after the lsteam and vapor have been discharged.

One advantage of this arrangement is that it separated from the iibre plate to allow the escape of steam and vapors and when the pie is once cooled the shortening in the pie will not be mamembers or beads may be sufdcient if applied only to the bottomV wall of the plate, I have shown how they may be carried partly up to the conical wall of the plate for similar purposes.

Qther objects and advantages will be set forth in the. following detailed description of my invention. Y

In the drawing forming part of this application,

Figure 1 is aplan view of a portion of a package containing a pie and with parts broken away to show the interior construction,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure 1, i

Figure 3 is an assembly View showing portions vof the plate, the transparent covering .and the clamping ring ready to be Figure 5 isa plan'view of a portion of a plate of a modied form wherein the supporting ribs are extended partly up the conical wall of the plate, and A `Figure 6. is a sectional view of the package as modifledto hold soft top or uncovered pies.

I will rst `describe the form of the invention shown inFigures 1 to 4 inclusive. The bottom or base member'of the package consists of the plate l including a bottom wall 2 and an inclined or conical wall I surrounding the bottom wall; the top edge of this pie -while it is hot, in order that keeps the major portion of the pie temporarily l terially absorbed by the plate. While theseraised conical wall there is an annular flange l which in the present construction is preferably plane. A

It is to be understood throughout this description that the package may be proportioned for various kinds of food products other than pies and that the form shown in the dra g is only an illustration of my invention as applied to a pie package without intendin-g to limit the invention to this specific use. 'I'he plate is preferably so proportioned that when the pie rests on the bottom wall or on the projections to be hereinafter described, the flange of the pie will rise slightly above the plane of the Aflange I ,of the plate. There is adisk or sheet 5 of transparent material adapted to cover the entire top of the pie and to extend downwardly on the outer side of the flange thereof, and to the outer edge of the flange 4 of the plate. This sheet is transparent and l2` have found cellophane especially advantageous as a material to be used as the top covering because of its transparency, cleanliness and its toughness.

The clamping ring in this construction consists of a flat portion 6 of annular shape and preferably corresponding in width with the ange l of the plate. There is a downwardly extending wall 1 depending from the inner portion of the wall 6 of the ring and its angle is preferably such that when the flat wall 6 rests against the flange 4 of the plate the inclined wall 1 will rest against the conical wall 3 of the plate.

In assembling a pie within the package the pie is first placed within the plate and then the transparent sheet is placed over the top of the pie. The clamping ring is then moved down upon the outer portion of the transparent sheet so that it presses the same against the ange of the plateand against the upper portion of the inclined wall 3. With the parts heldin this position wire stitches 8 .may be appliedthrough the plate flange, the clamping ring and the portion of the transparent sheet which is gripped between them.

It will be noted that if the food product extends slightly above the ange of the plate, or even above the lower edge 9 of the clamping ring, the transparent sheet will be formed into a bight as shown at I0, which transparent sheet. In other words, the ring clamps the outer portion of the transparent sheet by the bight formed at the lower edge 9 of the clamping ring instead of the bight formed by the nesting beads on the ange of the plate and the clamping ring in my said co-pending application.

I obtain all of the device shown in my advantages claimed for the said co-pending application,

but as shown in the drawing of this application, I-

am enabledff-to use thel ordinary type vof -pulpor paper plate, thereby avoiding the expense of having the beaded flange.' In addition, both the plate and the clamping ring in the present construction are much cheaper to manufacture. Also, the overall width of the= package for a given size pie is less than in the package described in said application.

The second branch of my invention, which may or may not be used in conjunction with the iirst described features, is as follows: As shown in Figures l and 2 during the formation of the plate by the ordinary process of making pulp and similar plates, there are formed the raised portions Il more or4 less in the form of beads which I have shown radially disposed around the bottom wall 2 of the plate.

' parent condition may pass out through these spaces and Y discharge into the air until the pie becomes cool. If the pie should sag down and touch the surface of the bottom wall 2 after the cooling operation is complete, the beads will have served the purpose nevertheless, because once the pie is cooled the shortening in the pie will not discharge appreciably into the plate material.

In Figure 5, I have shown how these beads may be arranged in the bottom wall and how they may be carried up as shown at i2 a portion` of the height of the conical wall 3 in order to temporarily support the pie out of contact with the conical wall. Itj will be understood that the pr'esent package is not completed or sealed up until the pie is cooled because the pie is so completely sealed that there will be little opportunity for any vapors to escape after'the package is completed.

With'the bight formed in the transparent material at the bottom edge 9 of the ring, and with the food product extending above the plane of this bight, the food product is so held that it cannot shift in any direction in relation to the plate. Thewhole package is compact, is very neat in appearance. and provides as full a viewv l vious reasons and for such purposes the construcserves to securely hold the p tion may be modied as shown in Figure 6. In this case the uncovered pie is indicated at Il. I employ the same type of plate as before and the same type of clamping ring. I provide, in addition however, an endless ring or collar i5 which may be made of cardboard and consists simply of a strip of cardboard bent around in the form of a hoop with its ends secured together. The diameter of this ring or collar which is formed separately from the plate, is such that when the ring is placed upon theplate its bottomedge willrest inethe top surface of the conical wall 3. This ring will be of suiiicient diameter to encircle the pie and rest on the wall 3 as shown in Figure 6.

When the transparent sheet is`placed across the pie, it will rest on the top edge i6 of this ring or collar and it will also project over the flange of the plate. When the clamping ring 6 is brought down on the outer portion of the trans Varent sheet it will draw the latter down agai t the wall Ail and the flange 4 of the plate in sim lar manner to the action in the first described form, but inste d of tightening the transeet against t e top and flange of the pie, it is stretched ove the top edge of the ring l5. The height of this g is such as to support the main span of the t ansparent sheet slightly above the top of the pie in order to prevent the goodies 'sheet from coming into contact with the soft f of the food top oi' the'pie. this manner I secure all of the advantages recited above in connection with food products which have soft tops. The addi# tional ring I5 is very inexpensive to manufacture so that it adds very slightly to the cost oi' the package. f

Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. A package for food product comprising a plate having a compartment to receive a food product therein and having a horizontal flange around the upper portion oi' said plate,` a sheet of transparent material adapted to cover the top product and extending over said plate ange, an annular clamping ring adapted to be secured to said plate flangel with the outer portion oi said sheet clamped between the plate iiange and said ring, and meansi'or securing said ring and plate ange together, said clamping ring having a depending inner portion extending below the plane of the receptacle flange and around which said sheet passes, an upstanding collar resting on said plate and surrounding the foodproduct and-over which said transparent sheet issupportedso that said sheet is maintained out of contact with the food product.

2. A- package for i'ood product comprising a plate having -a compartment to receive a i'ood product therein, said plate having a bottom wall, an inclined outer walland ahorizontal ilange around the top of said inclined wall, an upstand ing collar resting on said inclined wall and surrounding the food product with its upper edge disposed above they plane of the food product. a sheet of transparent material adapted to cover the top of the, food product by being spanned above said collar, said sheet extending over said plate flange, an annular clamping ring and means for securing it to said plate ilange with the outer portion oi said sheet clamped between the plate ilange and ring, said clamping ring having a depending inner portion extending below the plane of the receptacle flange and around which said sheetpasses to form a bight whereby said sheet securely clamped to the plate by said clamping ring.

v -v GEORGE S. FROST. 

